Richard Mulcahy

Richard Mulcahy (10 May 1886-16 December 1971) was the leader of Fine Gael from 1944 to 1959 and Minister of Defense of Ireland from 10 January 1922 to 19 March 1924, succeeding Cathal Brugha and preceding W.T. Cosgrave.

Biography
Richard Mulcahy was born in Waterford, County Waterford, Ireland, and he worked at a post office before joining the Irish Volunteers in 1913. Mulcahy served as Thomas Ashe's second-in-command during the Easter Rising of 1916, and he became well known as an able guerrilla fighter. From March 1919 to January 1922, Mulcahy served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army, and Mulcahy and Michael Collins were both responsible for directing the military campaign against the United Kingdom during the Irish War of Independence. Mulcahy also oversaw the quelling of the IRA's rebellion during the Irish Civil War, and he decreed that armed IRA prisoners were liable to be shot, leading to 77 executions. Mulcahy would become the chairman of the liberal Fine Gael party in 1944, and he served in numerous cabinet positions, including Minister of Defense, Minister for Local Government and Public Health, Minister for the Gaeltacht, Leader of the Opposition, and Minister for Education, and he retired from politics in 1960. Mulcahy died in 1971 at the age of 85.